The Meaning of Beowulf Displayed Through Archetypes

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The Meaning of Beowulf Displayed Through Archetypes

There are many things in life that we do not have control over. In the majority of everyday life situations, people tend to react a certain way through human instinct. This instinct will portray one to be a wonderfully pleasant or extremely pusillanimous human being. Whether the person is viewed having a good or evil spirit strictly depends on the circumstances. Good vs. evil will always be a controversial subject that will be displayed through story telling, or just ordinary every day life. Archetypes and ways of living have been imbedded in our brains for a extremely long time. Life is a continuous cycle that will remain continuous due to subconscious actions of man kind.

The story of Beowulf represents the on going cycle of good vs. evil. This theme is shown through heroic deeds, kinship, and dragon archetypes. Protecting innocent civilians, helping others in need and defeating evil are all clear examples of heroic deeds. Beowulf shows his heroic nature through his actions. Hearing that men were killed by Grendel, he jumps at the chance to save the others so that it won’t happen again. He does not fight with weapons which shows his fearlessness and strength. Beowulf conquers evil by not hesitating to put his life on the line for others in need. These actions are what portray him to be a hero and not just a plain, ordinary man. The two monsters in Beowulf are seemingly out to kill men. They both like in murky, chaotic and unpleasant places representing their dark and gloomy appearances. Grendel represents evil in the story because he hurts and kills men. The innocent victims pled with Grendel to stop killing and eating them. Grendel doesn’t listen to what they say and he keeps on killing because it is what he enjoys doing it. In the story of Beowulf Grendel is one of the major examples of evil. The other clear example of evil is the Dragon. The Dragon and Grendel both represent death, chaos and darkness (Encyclopedia of Archetypal Symbolism “Ananda”). Although he is mortally injured, after fighting both of the vicious monsters Beowulf comes out victorious, showing his destruction of evil. In the journey of a hero there are three distinct stages. These stages consist of departure, heroic deed and return. Before the departure one has to have a desire to help others, which displays a strong form of kinship.

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